Daniel Leeks

"We've brought an additional programmer on to Blood. Daniel Leeks will help bust out the new creature AI as we finish up the game. The creature AI, flight and swimming physics are now top priority to get Blood out the door. "--Blood Weekly Updates - October 21, 1996

Daniel "Dan"/"SHADOW" Leeks was a programmer for Blood and its Plasma Pak expansion focused on creating the artificial intelligence for the game's enemies. He joined the project in October 1996, shortly after the Q Studios development studio merged into Monolith Productions. Progress started in November 1996 with work on the Hell Hounds, Cerberus and the Gargoyles, with priority given to implementing the creature sounds. Next up were the Cultists and then the Bats. December 1996 featured more bug fixing, sound implementation and giving life to the Gill Beasts and Innocents, as well as allowing the Cultists to swim.

January 1997 saw him collaborate on the saving/loading implementation with Nick Newhard, and experiment with AI bots, alongside further feature additions and bug fixing (including a nasty memory bug). February 1997 saw him add in the ability for gargoyle statues to transform. His remaining efforts were for version control and finalizing the game's interface and menus, as well as adding in the option for CD audio and completing the sound system for the registered version. In April 1997 he completed his last major project: the AI routines for the dark god Tchernobog, a point of mixed critical reception.

He was reputedly a comparatively weak Bloodbath player and tester compared to Craig Hubbard and James Wilson III, although he is said to have exacted his revenge upon adding his AI controlled enemies into the arenas; he was also said to be one of the few team members to be able to resist the allure of the freshly released original Diablo during the project's final months. He left Monolith following the completion of the Plasma Pak add-on, and seemingly the games industry as a whole, and his role in Blood II was replaced by Scott Schlegel for AI, and Greg Kettell for interfaces. His wife Tamara is thanked in the game's credits.